Family Superpowers: Adaptability Starts at Home
Adaptability Starts at Home
In this special pre–Season 2 episode of UnNatural Selection, the microphones move from global innovators to a much tougher audience: family.
Before the official Season 2 kickoff, the Encina family gathers in the “Family Board Room” for a strategic review of Season 1. The goal? Apply lessons from world-class pioneers to the far more complex challenge of everyday family life.
Because if innovation strategy can’t survive bedtime negotiations, sibling diplomacy, and the emotional volatility of snack shortages… is it really strategy?
Most families overlook one of the most powerful skills that can transform how they communicate, solve problems, and grow together: adaptability. This conversation explores what happens when a family tries to evolve on purpose – in real time.
Together, the team reviews the Season 1 playbook and pressure-tests it against real household challenges. Along the way, they discover a slightly uncomfortable truth: the principles that help organizations survive disruption apply suspiciously well to family life.
If you’re a parent, partner, caregiver, or simply part of a group chat that occasionally spirals, this episode offers a practical and surprisingly relatable blueprint for evolving together.
Season 2 launches next.
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0:01
Speaker 1
Oh, so like.
0:02
Speaker 2
Persevere like, like you're climbing up a mountain and you and there's a big avalanche and you persevere to the top.
0:11
Speaker 3
Like, like there's big walls coming down and, and then you you get past them and.
0:20
Speaker 2
Birds are weird to get up.
0:22
Speaker 4
You got it.
0:24
Speaker 5
Welcome to Unnatural Selection, a show about competition, innovation, and the strategy shaping tomorrow's frontiers.
I'm Nick Encina.
Each week we speak with pioneers shaping the future.
0:34
Speaker 6
Welcome back to Unnatural Selection.
I'm Isha.
Over the past year, Nick has interviewed pioneers and global leaders, from NASA engineers and FBI agents to MMA fighters and opera singers, mapping what he calls the evolutionary playbook used by elite organizations.
But today, the stakes get personal.
0:52
We're heading into the Encina boardroom for a real executive stress test.
Nick is joined by the family's actual North Star, the CEO herself, Trish, alongside Valentina, our Chief Content Officer, and Roman, our resident expert in rude dinosaurs.
1:07
Nick loves to say innovation is the dominant force shaping the modern world.
But in this room, success isn't measured in stock price or trophies.
It's measured in raising children who grow into capable, fulfilled humans.
And just like any boardroom, if the strategy fails, the consequences are real.
1:25
If Nick doesn't deliver a convincing implementation plan today, his employment at the Encina household may be under review.
This is Episode 49, a bridge between last year's ideas and this year's action.
Let's see if the unnatural selection thesis survives a performance review from his own CEO.
1:44
Let's go.
1:48
Speaker 4
The Encina family boardroom called to order.
Present are Valentina Encina, the chief content officer.
We have Roman Encina, the chief rude dinosaur officer, and Tricia Cena, the chief executive officer of the family, and Papa, the big mouth officer, the chief safety officer.
2:16
Speaker 1
Chief Safety.
2:16
Speaker 4
Officer Yeah.
All right.
So last season was our first season of Unnatural Selection and we had conversations with some really, really fascinating people.
CEO's famous tennis stars, Famous opera surprise.
2:33
Speaker 2
One that I think I remember.
Hello.
Yeah, I think you've talked to someone, someone that's from trying to get Ubers like or something.
2:46
Speaker 4
No, that's for this season coming up, yeah.
2:52
Speaker 1
You did.
Daddy already recorded them, but they don't know yet.
That's yeah.
2:57
Speaker 4
That's the I talked to the former commissioner of the New York Taxi and Limo Commission, longest running commissioner during the time of Uber expansion.
3:08
Speaker 2
There are some things that you said.
3:11
Speaker 4
Yeah, we talked about what it was like to be running taxis and limos in New York during the time that Uber started spreading.
3:19
Speaker 1
That's going to be one of the first.
3:22
Speaker 2
So was the person OK with it or was he just trying to push it away?
3:28
Speaker 4
That's a great question.
I think at first probably trying to push it away and then eventually realize, well this isn't going to go away so we need to learn how to work with it.
3:37
Speaker 2
What?
3:37
Speaker 4
What?
3:38
Speaker 1
What?
What Uber?
And that brings us to a great, I think, superpower.
3:43
Speaker 4
Yeah, Actually, before we get that, that's the topic of this conversation.
So in that conversation, Chippy and others we came up, we discovered some really, really interesting rules, guidelines, and superpowers that make people really good at their job.
3:59
And I thought that we could use them to become better individuals and stronger as a family by seeing if we can apply them to our family.
And So what do you guys think?
Do you guys want to see if we can learn some new superpowers?
4:15
All right, all right, so the very first one is adaptability.
So that's the ability to disrupt yourself and change before others change you.
So it's the ability, the ability to change your behavior or your thinking before it's too late.
4:35
And so do you guys think that we as a family are adaptable?
Do you think that we're fixed in how we do things and we always do things the same way?
Or do you think we are capable of changing things and becoming better?
4:48
Speaker 3
I know, I know.
Yeah, be capable.
4:52
Speaker 4
Being capable.
4:53
Speaker 1
I liked Valentina's answer.
You said this.
Tell us a little bit about this.
4:58
Speaker 4
OK.
4:59
Speaker 2
So I think just like in the middle because.
5:06
Speaker 3
We.
5:07
Speaker 2
Kind of stick to it a little and then we realize we should probably change it.
5:14
Speaker 3
Change what?
5:15
Speaker 4
So what do you think is something that?
5:17
Speaker 2
We're too rigid.
5:18
Speaker 4
What do you think is something that we're too rigid about that?
5:21
Speaker 3
We be more.
5:22
Speaker 4
Adaptable.
5:25
Speaker 2
Maybe we should like change our attitude a little more quicker.
5:30
Speaker 4
Yeah.
But about what?
Is there something specific that we do?
Is it or do you?
5:36
Speaker 1
Mean in general, when we're thinking about, we have feelings about something and maybe we should adapt more quickly to thinking about the feelings of the other side.
Is that what you mean?
Yeah.
5:49
Speaker 4
OK, what about you, Mom?
You think anything we could be more adaptable about?
5:55
Speaker 1
I think that sometimes we could have big feelings, and in our family, if someone we love like mom or Papa or Doobies or Valentina has an opposing big feeling, we could be more adaptable to listening to how they feel and we could more quickly adapt our feelings to address their feelings.
6:23
Speaker 2
Oh, like me and my brother.
6:24
Speaker 1
Yeah, like emotionally rebound.
6:27
Speaker 4
OK, that's a good one.
Maybe we also be more adaptable in in how we deal with challenges.
6:40
Speaker 2
That's a good idea to this.
6:42
Speaker 4
Way we can learn how to be more resilient and persevere better.
6:48
Speaker 3
What?
6:51
Speaker 1
Like the family code?
6:53
Speaker 3
Also like.
6:54
Speaker 2
Persevere like, like you're climbing up a mountain and you and there's a big avalanche and you persevere to the top.
7:04
Speaker 4
You got it.
7:05
Speaker 3
Just like that.
Like there's big walls coming down and and then you you get past them in birds of gear to get up.
7:15
Speaker 4
You got it.
Exactly, and it's also the ability to disrupt yourself before bad circumstances change you.
7:23
Speaker 2
So like.
7:24
Speaker 4
So like for example.
7:26
Speaker 3
Boys like some laws are are coming your way.
You just stay there to and.
7:34
Speaker 2
There's another ball.
7:36
Speaker 3
Coming your ball coming your way, that's that's moved.
And then the block falls down and and then you keep doing.
Yeah.
7:45
Speaker 4
So you tell me.
7:46
Speaker 2
What that what you're trying to say he's saying?
7:49
Speaker 1
That you persevere even though you are.
7:51
Speaker 3
Coming down to.
7:52
Speaker 1
Your way.
7:54
Speaker 4
How's about superpower #2 cross pollination.
So cross pollination.
The idea here is that people sometimes are really good at one thing, but they can learn from other practices or experiences, skills in order like.
8:12
Speaker 2
My lacrosse game today, like like, like when the coach asked if I wanted to sit out and you guys told me to watch my teammates to see what techniques they do.
8:25
Speaker 4
Exactly.
You can cross polity from different things.
Another example would be how you were applying your tennis skills to lacrosse today, because you remember you're so good with that rocket at hitting the ball and when they put you in the goalie, we said remember your tennis skill so you can block that ball.
8:42
Like if it's a tennis ball, that's when you're doing cross pollination.
By remembering hey, I learned the skill in tennis that I can use in lacrosse.
8:51
Speaker 1
Roman, I have a.
8:52
Speaker 2
Question.
8:53
Speaker 1
Roman, what's something that another family has done that you would love our family to do?
Maybe something that we could also do?
9:05
Speaker 3
Sure.
9:06
Speaker 1
What's something?
What's something that you've seen in another family or you've seen another friends?
You've seen other friends?
9:14
Speaker 2
Do.
9:15
Speaker 1
That you're like, oh, I wish our family would do that.
Or maybe you've seen in a movie or you've read in a book.
What have you seen them do that you wish we would do?
Or that you wish you and Valentina could do.
9:31
Speaker 3
We could play with new friends and then we play and we have.
But you don't have to play, by the way.
You just have to pick a game and then you play it and then and then you like.
9:57
Speaker 1
So, so it's something, so something that you've seen is that families playing games together.
Yeah, Yeah, OK.
10:08
Speaker 3
No, only a kid.
10:09
Speaker 1
Oh, kids playing with kids, playing games with other kids.
That's fun.
Wonderful.
OK.
10:16
Speaker 4
The next one is culture as infrastructure.
So you know what culture is.
It's kind of like the way that we operate.
10:23
Speaker 2
Like, can you explain just a little more about a?
10:26
Speaker 4
Little bit about culture.
It's kind of like the way that we treat each other and how we behave with each other.
So it's the way that we know that this is how we treat each other and we expect people to treat us.
And it also gives us ideas on how to make decisions and the kind of things that we'll like and won't like.
10:44
So different cultures, there's like Asian culture, they have their own food and customs and practices.
There's Latin culture, there's European cultures.
Well, there are all kinds of different cultures.
And they give people general rules and guidelines on how to behave with each other.
11:02
And the good thing about that is when you build a great culture, it helps you make decisions.
Like for example, it can tell us about do we like or not like tricky people.
11:14
Speaker 3
I don't like tricky people.
11:15
Speaker 4
We don't like tricky people.
We know that's part of our culture.
11:19
Speaker 3
Because if you trust the tricky people, they think they won't go with them.
Then you guys stole it.
11:26
Speaker 4
Exactly.
11:27
Speaker 2
In the car or anywhere.
11:29
Speaker 4
Yeah.
So we don't trust.
11:30
Speaker 3
Tricky people, even when walking into the ice store.
11:41
Speaker 2
Ice.
11:41
Speaker 3
Store, they'll go a new way and then and then and then they go that way and they leave someone.
11:49
Speaker 2
Else and then.
11:50
Speaker 3
He walks there still and then don't.
11:53
Speaker 4
Yeah, what do we think about culture with?
11:56
Speaker 3
Respect.
11:57
Speaker 4
To what about we say like part of our culture is safety first, part of our culture is a curiosity.
12:05
Speaker 1
Well, we have the family.
12:06
Speaker 2
Code safety first.
I know some words about safety first that dad always says in the morning, safety first downstairs, so you might fall well.
12:18
Speaker 1
Our family culture.
We have a code do you guys want to share?
I apologize for bumping your words.
Do you want?
12:25
Speaker 3
To like you if you lose them, you your family.
12:38
Speaker 1
Do you guys want to share with the audience, with the family, with the Encina CODIS?
I do OK.
So why we go together start 1 and you go together 1?
12:49
Speaker 2
23.
12:50
Speaker 1
Stay.
12:51
Speaker 2
Stay curious you.
12:52
Speaker 1
Choose.
12:53
Speaker 2
Kindness.
You tell the truth.
12:56
Speaker 1
You take.
12:57
Speaker 2
Responsibility notice.
13:00
Speaker 1
Notice no.
13:01
Speaker 3
Good.
13:01
Speaker 2
Help others when we can.
13:04
Speaker 1
You.
13:05
Speaker 2
Have fun.
13:07
Speaker 1
How?
Well, you have fun and then you have.
13:10
Speaker 2
Great in person.
13:12
Speaker 1
And when you they always.
13:13
Speaker 3
Don't know what to do, you just love.
13:18
Speaker 4
I love it.
All right, so that sounds like a really great culture.
I wish I was part of that culture.
13:24
Speaker 1
Dad is making jokes.
That is the Encina code and he's Encina.
Daddy just likes to make jokes.
13:31
Speaker 4
OK.
The next one is temporal framing.
So even though we try to live in the moment, it's good to think about different time horizons, especially if you're trying to run a company or thinking about getting better at lacrosse.
So for example, you want to think to yourself, well, there's something that I can do really good and become better right now.
13:52
But then also think about where do you want to be in a year or two years from now?
So let's say, for example, tennis right now, maybe you're thinking about how to do better foot movement, but maybe in a year you want to be in a place where you can play a match.
14:08
And so you want to start thinking about how do you become better in the immediate moment, but also what do you need to do to become really good in the future.
And so people that run companies have to think about that all the time because they have things that they need to manage for today, but then also keep their eye on where they want the ship to go in the long run.
14:29
So those are the kind of things we have to plan on here.
So for example, one thing that we can do right now for our family is we can make our bed and clean our rooms.
But in the long term, we're thinking about, we want to, what project do we want to do, Mom?
14:47
Speaker 1
You mean for our family or for our home?
So we wanted to do a pergola in the back and a fire pit.
14:58
Speaker 4
Sounds fun.
15:00
Speaker 2
Wait, then can you said that again?
15:02
Speaker 1
They wanted to do a pergola in the back and a fire pit.
Yay.
15:06
Speaker 2
Can you say that a fire pit?
15:09
Speaker 1
A fire pit so we can make s'mores in the back.
15:13
Speaker 2
Yeah, and build a.
15:14
Speaker 1
Fire pit and we can make pizza stones.
Yeah, all.
15:18
Speaker 4
Right, so let's move on to the mindset.
One thing that I actually thought was really cool, and I've learned this from the former tennis coach of Serena and Venus Williams in tennis, his name was Rick Mason.
15:31
Speaker 3
And.
15:31
Speaker 4
What really interesting came out of that was he said love the competition, not the trophy.
You know what that means?
No, it means that let's say if you're playing, what sport do you want to think about?
I'd say, what do you want to think about love?
15:47
Speaker 3
The grind love the.
15:48
Speaker 4
Grind.
Love the grind because if you're playing just for the trophies then it's really easy to lose your motivation because if you lose and you don't wait, hold on.
If you lose and don't get the trophy then you can get discouraged.
Or if you win and get the trophy you might get bored.
16:05
But if you're excited and you love to compete and you love to just improve every single moment, you have endless amounts of time and opportunity to become better.
16:15
Speaker 2
And so, like, if you're playing tennis and not having fun and you're just competing to get the trophy, then you won't have so much fun.
And maybe you might lose focus and, and like, like lose, yeah.
16:35
Speaker 4
So it's important that we always try to improve.
It's called continuous improvement.
So every moment, every point, every match, everything we do, we always just enjoy getting better and competing.
And if we win the trophy, great.
16:50
If we don't, that's OK, but we enjoy every moment.
16:55
Speaker 2
But then we learn something new.
16:57
Speaker 4
Yeah, we learn something new, we get better.
OK, What is it, Roman?
17:03
Speaker 3
That if you, if you see that totally shiny and you, you still don't have to win it because if you win it, you don't play a game anymore because you're like, I'm bored.
17:19
I only got the trophy.
That's exactly.
17:21
Speaker 4
Right, so.
17:22
Speaker 3
So you have to.
So if you lose, you have to.
It's OK, you have to say good, good games.
17:34
Speaker 4
Good job.
17:35
Speaker 1
Yeah, if you say good games still.
17:37
Speaker 2
So like just so like if I got the trophy, no.
17:41
Speaker 4
No, right?
17:41
Speaker 2
Now if I get the trophy and and I got the trophy, I'm like, so this is what Roman's trying to say, right?
So like if I got the trophy and and then now I walk out of there and then I'm like I'm bored.
18:01
Speaker 4
Yeah, that's exactly.
18:02
Speaker 2
Right, anymore so.
18:04
Speaker 3
Then I was playing.
18:06
Speaker 2
So then.
So then you just stop playing.
But that is not what it's about.
It's about having fun getting in there and if you win, you.
18:20
Speaker 4
Win and we want to win and we want to always try to win and we want to try to improve and get better.
18:26
Speaker 2
Yes, he has a point, yeah.
18:28
Speaker 4
All right, let's move on to the next one.
Storytelling as a genetic code.
Do you know that some of the most important things that people have ever done in the world are driven by a story, Either something we're trying to accomplish together or saving lives, or getting to the.
18:45
Speaker 3
Moon.
18:46
Speaker 4
And so it's really important to have a story that we share together on why we're trying to do what we're trying to do.
So mom and I, we had a story that we wanted to build a really strong and happy family.
So that drives everything that we do and we're super proud of what you guys have become.
19:03
And, and so part of it is having a story that we can all align with and we can all grow together.
And so that's so the story is like the family code and mom helped us build.
That's a story.
Those are the things that guide the way that we think and the way we feel about ourselves.
19:24
Or a story might be putting a man on the moon, right?
That's a really cool thing.
That's what NASA did to put a person on the moon, right?
19:35
Speaker 2
I'm just wondering who was the first person on the moon?
19:40
Speaker 4
I think it was Neil Armstrong if I'm correct.
19:44
Speaker 1
Yeah, it's Neil Armstrong.
19:46
Speaker 4
That was a long time ago, like 50-60 years ago, but I think they're planning on putting more people on the moon soon.
They just sent people around the moon just last week.
19:58
Speaker 2
Did they observe?
19:59
Speaker 4
Anyone they did, they came.
They just didn't land.
20:05
Speaker 2
So what did they see up there like?
20:08
Speaker 1
Oh, we see things there are there.
They send, they send pictures and things back from the moon.
We just haven't sent humans back there to be to land there.
20:20
Speaker 4
OK.
And then another one is off skills, it's hard assets.
So the and sometimes hard skills are things like knowing how to use a computer or know how to do that.
Soft skills are personal skills, so the ability of talking to people and relating to them and telling stories.
20:42
And that's becoming more and more important these days with technology and artificial intelligence and the way that the world is evolving, soft skills become even more important, especially the leadership skills and the ability to make hard decisions.
20:59
So that's an important one.
And I think that's part of our, our code as well as a family in, in being able to think outside the box, Right.
OK, let's move on to the next one.
21:14
This was an important one, strategic forgetfulness.
So I learned this one in tennis, which is if you lose a point, it was just the point, you have to be able to forget it.
So the ability to forget is really important because if, if we lose a point and we let it bother us, then it's going to really affect the next point.
21:34
And every single point is separate, so that applies in life too.
It's the ability to bounce back and not let past experience affect us too much and current experiences.
21:45
Speaker 2
So like so like the bounce back boogie?
21:49
Speaker 4
Bounce back, Boogie.
That's a good one.
Are are we?
21:52
Speaker 2
Created our family.
21:54
Speaker 4
Yeah, as our bounce back boogie and our.
21:59
Speaker 2
Winning.
21:59
Speaker 4
Wiggle.
Winning Wiggle.
Yep, that's exactly that.
So that we can, when we win, we celebrate with our winning wiggle and when we lose, we have to do our bounce back boogie so we can put it behind this.
22:12
Speaker 2
Bounce back.
22:14
Speaker 3
Boogie.
22:15
Speaker 4
Exactly.
Good thought.
Chop chops.
All right, well, that covers most of them.
What do you guys do?
You think that we can apply some of these superpowers to our family?
Yeah.
Yeah.
What do you think, Roman?
22:31
You think we can apply them and become superpower dinosaurs?
Yes.
22:36
Speaker 3
I want to be a a big wheel, strong, good dinosaurs, Yeah, like a fly in the air and hit the bad desert in the.
22:51
Speaker 4
Oh, OK.
Any closing words Mum?
22:55
Speaker 1
No, this was wonderful.
22:56
Speaker 6
Yeah.
22:58
Speaker 2
I have one word.
22:59
Speaker 4
What one word?
23:02
Speaker 2
Don't keep your eye on the trophy.
23:05
Speaker 4
Don't keep your eye on the trophy.
23:08
Speaker 3
I have one too.
If you keep your eye on the on the I said trophy, you the gene and then you play and then you, you, you might lose and then and then the other human gets the trophy.
23:35
Speaker 4
Guess what guys?
Then this episode is going to go out this week and then next week we officially start season 2 on Cinco de Mayo.
You know what the topic is, Cinco de Mayo?
You know what this topic is going to be.
23:50
Speaker 2
No Mexico.
23:52
Speaker 4
Tacos, tacos and debating on Taco Tuesday.
What do you think about that?
So great.
And that's going to be the topic.
24:13
All right, guys.
Well, thank you very much and time to go to bed, no.
24:22
Speaker 6
And there you have it, proof that the same ideas used by NASA and global pharma companies can also survive the chaos of family life.
Nick appears to have kept his job for now, which preserves the integrity of the thesis.
It's hard to analyze societal evolution if you're going through your own extinction event at home.
24:41
Because with the family operating system officially aligned, we're ready to scale.
Mark your calendars May 5th.
Cinco de Mayo Unnatural Selection Season 2 begins with the CEO of Bar Taco and a deep dive into the strategy, culture, and innovation behind the greatest Mexican invention of all time, the Taco.
25:02
How do you turn a beloved food into a global brand without losing its soul?
That's where we're starting our next expedition into how the world is being reshaped by design.
I'm Aisha.
Trish has the bridge, the kids have the content, and Nick is just happy he wasn't fired.
Today, we'll see you on Cinco de Mayo.
25:20
Go make a mutation you're proud of.
Keep evolving.
